Conscious Alliance will be hosting a food drive on October 9th at the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield Colorado at the Fourmile Canyon Revival featuring the String Cheese Incident, Yonder Mountain String Band, Big Head Todd & the Monsters, Drew Emmitt & Vince Herman, and the members of Phish. All food donations collected will benefit the Boulder Community Food Share. Patrons that donate 10 non-perishable food items will receive a free limited-edition poster by Richard Biffle!

The Conscious Alliance always encourages food donations to be low-sodium and health oriented products. “Organic” food donations are especially encouraged. RAMEN NOODLES will NOT be accepted for the free poster.

Thank you for your continued support in feeding the hungry everywhere the music plays!

Brando and Dusty from cashortrade.org have released a statement on a very important issue within the community regarding ticket value and ticket trading. They have also created a quick 5 question multiple choice survey asking fans for their input on the issue. Help me, Help them, Help you, so we can all Help Each Other! Fill out their survey and share your thoughts with us on this issue.

Official Press Release:

What is Fair ?

CashorTrade.org is the leading ticket trading website that helps fans obtain tickets at face value. With over 6,400 members and 12,000 trades “Embracing the Face” is the common phrase used to encourage all fans to trade fairly and amongst each other. However, as tour get closer and more and more tickets are traded, there is one thing that remains apparent…some shows are considered to be worth more than others. With this dichotomy, how does face value and fair trade tickets remain at just that, FACE VALUE.

As many feel a ticket to Phish’s 10/31 Halloween show is worth more than a ticket to other shows in that tour, members are feeling stuck without a way to make their trades more attractive to those who have that golden Halloween ticket. Therefore, more and more “2 for 1” type trades have been surfacing on the website.

So again, the question remains….What is Fair?
Well before we answer this, there are important factors to take into account that others seem to forget about or over look.
1) The definition of Face Value: The full cost of a ticket + purchase fees + shipping. The goal is for the person selling their ticket to receive a full refund of all costs, as if they never purchased the ticket in the first place. Face Value can be obtained with a straight up trade of a ticket for a ticket, or a ticket for equal monetary compensation.

2) The definition of Fair Trade in terms of Face Value: As others may attach a certain level of worth to an item it is important remember what the actual worth was as it was sold on the market originally. Example, a Halloween ticket that was sold for $72.50 after fees and shipping is worth just that, $72.50, regardless of the worth others attach to it. This worth is being transferred into additional cash, or in some cases, many tickets for one ticket. The additional worth only inflates the ticket value and the market for that ticket, changing the balance far from face value.

3) On that same note, it is important to recognize that offering far below face value, or offering many tickets for one ticket, equally disrupts the market value of the original ticket price. Unlike the previous situation of inflation, this case causes market deflation. Face Value becomes extremely hard to get for those poor folks who are stuck with their buddy’s extra ticket and they just want to get their money back.

4) The Band’s Ticket Price: Some bands, such as Phish, have a policy of selling all tickets to an event for the same cost. ALL TICKETS ARE CREATED EQUAL! For example, a front row ticket is the same cost as a back row ticket. Furthermore, a ticket to a special 3 set show such as Halloween is also the same exact price as any other show sold on tour. This is done for a reason. It gives every fan, with no bias, the opportunity to randomly receive a “special” ticket, whether it is front row or to a Halloween show.

The concept of keeping tickets at face value started many years ago when the band denounced scalping of their tickets. The idea was centered on karma and good fortune. As a community we all hate to see a good friend be shut out of a show, so working to keep prices at face value offers fans an equal chance to experience what we all can’t live without. The same goes with the ticket lottery. Although some of us get quite upset when we don’t receive the tickets we were hoping for, the band has done this to create a complete non-bias situation for fans to win tickets, hence the term lottery. In the end, it’s about the ability for us all to non-selectively be able to obtain the pass to an amazing experience.

So here it goes…our new greatest line: Help us, Help you, so we can all Help Each Other! Together let’s determine what is fair. We want your input. With over 6,400 members and 12,000 trades we ARE the face value community. Together lets set the rules in which we play and encourage others to share in this passion too.

We have created a quick 5 question survey to help us gather your input on the topic. Please take a quick moment, complete the survey and take action in putting an end to scalping and to EMBRACE THE FACE! (Survey is multiple choice so it will be quick to complete.)

Hidden Track's Ryan Dembinsky sits down with one of Mike Gordon's first band mates from "Tombstone Blues Band" the Reverend Kerry Keefe. Ryan discusses Kerry's new album, his demons and redemptions, and also shares some fond memories of Mike's glory days in high school. I wonder if any of those original "Tombstone Blues Band" t-shirts exist in the Phish Archives?

Hidden Track: Finally, who was cooler in high school, you or Mike?

Rev. Kerry: You know, I’m glad you got to the more important questions on everybody’s minds. Here I must apologize to Mike. I was in high school, and it is empirically documented, substantially cooler. Long blonde, Roger Daltrey in Tommy type hair, bluesy voice. I had the looks and the clothes and the attitude. Mike on the other hand, had all the stuff. And now we know how much talent he had. In high school, maybe me. Since high school, it would be hard to say that Mike isn’t slightly cooler than me. You never know, I might catch up.

Type II cast is a new Phish related podcast produced by the TWoL network intended to focus on reviews, analysis and discussions about all things Phish. Type II is moderated by Steve Olker and involves a rotating cast of panelist, which I'm excited to be a part of. I helped kicked things off last night along with fellow Phish fans Tanya Sperry and Scott Bernstein of Hidden Track and YEMblog. In the first episode, we chose to discuss our first show experiences, highlights and share some choice audio clips. The first episode is available at typeIIcast.com and on iTunes.